Mobile devices often roam among various Access Points (APs) within a wireless network. For example, a wireless network may include 20 APs that facilitate connections between mobile devices and the wireless network. In this example, a mobile device may visit areas covered by 18 of those 20 APs over a 1-hour period of time. In doing so, the mobile device may establish and/or maintain a network session with the wireless network by way of the 18 different APs visited over that 1-hour period of time.
In some scenarios, each of the APs visited by the mobile device may need to obtain a profile and/or context for the mobile device prior to facilitating a transfer of the mobile device's network session from the last visited AP. The APs may be able to obtain the mobile device's profile and/or context using one or more conventional approaches. Unfortunately, these conventional approaches may have deficiencies that lead to certain problems (such as high resource consumption, unreliability, and/or delays) within the wireless network.
For example, in one conventional approach, a wireless network may be configured to pre-cache each mobile device's profile and/or context in each of the APs within the wireless network. Unfortunately, this conventional approach may lead to unnecessarily high memory consumption and/or processing power usage in the APs.
In another conventional approach, a wireless network may be configured such that a newly visited AP requests the mobile device's profile and/or context from the last visited AP. Unfortunately, this conventional approach may introduce certain delays into the transfer of the mobile device's profile and/or context from one AP to the other, potentially resulting in connection loss and/or the need for re-authentication.
In a further conventional approach, a wireless network may be configured to pre-cache each mobile device's profile and/or context in those APs neighboring the current AP (using, e.g., Radio Resource Management (RRM)). Unfortunately, this conventional approach may require complex, expensive, and/or specialized management tools and/or wireless architectures. Additionally or alternatively, this conventional approach may fail to take into account whether the mobile devices are even likely to visit certain neighboring APs. This conventional approach may also be somewhat ineffective in the event that the wireless network includes signal coverage holes.
The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for apparatuses, systems, and methods for predicting roaming patterns of mobile devices within wireless networks.